A fortification has existed on the site from Saxon times. But the current ruin was established by [Geoffrey de Clinton]?, Treasurer and Chief Justice of England to Henry I, in about 1125. Henry II took control of the castle in 1173-4.
In 1244 [Simon de Montfort]?, Earl of Leicester, was appointed governor of the castle. Simon de Montfort became a leader in the Barons' War (1263-1267) against King [Henry III]?. De Montfort was killed in battle near Evesham on August 4th 1265. In 1266, the rebels under the leadership of Henry de Hastings, used the castle as a refuge when the King surrounded Kenilworth. The siege of Kenilworth Castle in 1266 is the longest in English history at six months, ended by the Dictum of Kenilworth.
Edward I bestowed the castle upon his youngest son Edmund, Earl of Lancaster. The castle was inherited by Edward II and the Henry, Earl of Lancaster, received the castle, which then passed through his son to [John of Gaunt]?.
From 1364 John of Gaunt began the castle's conversion from a fortress into a palace. The castle remained in royal hands until Elizabeth I gve it to [Robert Lord Dudley]?, Earl of Leicester in 1563. He added the Leicester building, a large apartment and the residential block overlooking the lake.
In 1600 [Charles II]? gave the castle to Sir Edward Hyde, whom he created Baron Kenilworth and Earl of Clarendon. The castle remained the property of the Clarendons until 1937 before passing into the possession of Sir John Siddeley, later Lord Kenilworth. The family presented the castle to Kenilworth in 1958. English Heritage has looked after the castle since 1984.
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